General Release - 2002-03 English Awards - Guilford College

• GUILFORD RECOGNIZES TOP STUDENT-ATHLETES WITH ENGLISH AWARD

Greensboro, NC (02/26/03) - Six of Guilford College's top student-athletes received the 2003 Nereus C. English '26 Athletic Leadership Award at a banquet Tuesday evening on Guilford's campus. This year's recipients are: senior baseball player Brad Franklin (Greensboro, NC/Southern Guilford), junior soccer player Alexandra Hutton (Collierville, TN/Hutchison School), junior soccer player Tim Imafidon (Raleigh, NC/Wake Forest-Rolesville), junior golfer Dave Patterson (Fort Pierce, FL/Fort Pierce Central), senior volleyball player Jennifer Pue-Gilchrist (Topsail Beach, NC/Leesville Road) and junior basketball and volleyball player A.J. Robertson (Eden, NC/Morehead). The six raise the number of English Award recipients in 22 years to 151.

Named for one of Guilford's most loyal alumni, the annual English Award is the college's highest honor for athletic ability and leadership. Guilford first presented the prize in 1977 to students who reached the highest ideals of athletic accomplishment, leadership and academic achievement. James English made the presentations on behalf of the family at this year's banquet.

A three-year starter, Franklin earned first-team American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-South region laurels last season after setting school standards in runs (55), runs batted in (51) and triples (9). He also received first-team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) honors in 2002 and was a member of the 2002 All-ODAC Tournament team. A team captain, Franklin ranked among the 2002 NCAA Division III leaders in triples (7th) and runs (34th) per game. He transferred to Guilford from Elon in 2001 and played second base for his first two seasons before moving to left field this spring. Through seven games in 2003, Franklin is batting .333 and leads the Quakers in triples (3) and runs batted in (11). A dean's list business management major, he is the son of Joe and Sandy Franklin. His sister, Jennifer, is a freshman on Guilford's softball team.

Hutton became Guilford's initial first-team Verizon Academic All-America pick last fall after her second season with the Quakers' soccer team. A second-team all-conference pick as a sophomore, she received first-team All-ODAC honors in 2002 and ranked sixth among the league leaders in goals and points per game. Her 34 points (14 goals, 6 assists) rank eighth in Guilford history. She set school standards with 15 points and seven goals in the Quakers' 12-2 win over Ferrum September 25. The seven scores stand second in NCAA history (all divisions) and her 15 points place third all time in Division III. A 2000 transfer from Mississippi State, she ranks ninth on Guilford's career scoring list with 41 points in 40 matches. Hutton is a dean's list student and maintains a 4.0 grade point average. Her academic honors include Guilford's competitive Dana Scholarship and the school's 2001-02 Outstanding Exercise and Sports Science Major Award. She is the daughter of Priscilla Hutton.

A key to the men's soccer team's turnaround, Imafidon is Guilford's first two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas All-South selection. He earned first-team all-region honors last fall after picking up third-team laurels in 2001. The three-year starting forward led Guilford's scorers for the second straight season last fall with 24 points, the eighth-best total in school history. A two-time All-ODAC pick, Imafidon received first-team laurels in 2002 and ranked among the league leaders in goals (4th) and points (6th) per match. The team captain scored a league-high five game-winning goals, which helped the Quakers to 11 wins and their best season since 1986. Imafidon enters his senior season ranked second among Guilford's career scorers with 67 points in 54 matches. A health sciences and biology double major, he is the son of Timothy and Beatrice Imafidon.

Patterson placed second at the 2002 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships where the Quakers won their second national golf title and their first NCAA crown in any sport. His runner-up finish merited first-team PING All-America recognition, which made Patterson Guilford's 11th two-time golf All-American. He took 10th at the 2001 national championships and earned second-team All-America laurels. A two-time All-ODAC player, Patterson starts the spring with a 73.6 career stroke average in 47 rounds, which ranks second in school history. His 73.93 stroke average last season stood second on the squad and fifth in Guilford history. Patterson leads the Quakers through 10 fall rounds with a 72.10 average and ranks fifth among Division III golfers (195th among all college golfers) according to the February 19 Golfstat Head-to-Head Rankings. He is a sport management major and the son of Gary Patterson and Juanita Hill.

Pue-Gilchrist concluded one of the finest volleyball careers in Guilford history last fall as the ODAC's Volleyball Player of the Year. An outside hitter and three-year captain, she is Guilford's second ODAC Volleyball Player of the Year and third three-time All-ODAC selection. Pue-Gilchrist set the league's career digs record, which is one of her 10 school standards. She holds the Quakers' career and season records for aces and digs. Pue-Gilchrist stands second on Guilford's career kills list, despite playing setter as a freshman. Also an accomplished student, she is a dean's list double major in biology and health sciences with concentrations in chemistry and integrative science. Her academic honors include Guilford's Dana and Hendricks Scholarships and the GlaxoSmithKline Women in Science Scholarship. Also a residence advisor at Guilford, she is the daughter of Jim and Brenda Pue-Gilchrist.

One of Pue-Gilchrist's volleyball teammates, Robertson also plays basketball for Guilford and is nearing the end of her third and finest hoops season. She ranks third on the team in scoring with 12.3 points per game, over a seven-point improvement on her career scoring average through two seasons. A shooting guard and six-time leading scorer, Robertson has 17 games with 10 or more points this year. She came off the bench for Guilford's basketball teams that won ODAC titles in 2001 and 2002 and reached the second round of the NCAA playoffs both years. The Quakers earned the top seed for this year's league tournament, which begins Thursday (2/27) in Salem, VA.

Robertson enjoyed her finest volleyball season last fall and led the team in blocks and aces. Her 58 aces rank fourth in Guilford history and her 357 career digs stand eighth. The three-year starting middle hitter and team captain ranked among the league leaders in blocks (2nd), aces (13th) and 14th in digs. She set a school standard with 4.14 aces per game in an October 5 match with Greensboro. Robertson earned first team Verizon All-District Basketball recognition last week after receiving second-team Verizon Academic All-District volleyball honors in the fall. She is a dean's list student with a triple major in biology, chemistry and health sciences. Her academic awards include the GlaxoSmithKline Women in Science Scholarship and Guilford's Purdom Scholarship. She is the daughter of Joe and Lorna Robertson.

A native of Thomasville, NC, Nereus C. English graduated from Guilford in 1926, but maintained close contact with the college after graduation. His loyalty and genuine interest in its students led to the establishment of the English Endowment Fund and the Nereus C. and Mae Martin English Scholarship Fund in 1965. With his brother, the late T.R. English, he made possible the English Hall dormitory in 1957. In 1962, Nereus English received the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Guilford College Alumni Association.